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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

I hope you all are having a wonderful week! Ours has been good so far - William and Mary won again last night so they are off to a 2-0 start for the year. And I just finished up another project last night that I hopefully will be able to get photographed in the next day or two so I can show you. And we've got several new products for the holidays that I am excited about that are almost ready to list and a few others that are in the works! For now though I want to show you how to make the tufted ottoman I showed you yesterday.

4 – 1” x 3” x your choice boards - I think I used around 22 1/4" so that when paired with the two long boards is made my ottoman 24" wide by 48" long (2 are for the width of your bench and 2 bracing pieces)

Electric drill with one box self – drilling 1 ¾” wood screws

1 particle board or some kind of wood cut to the size you want your ottoman - I chose 24" by 48"

2" foam cut to fit on top of your ottoman - I chose 24" by 48"(I would have preferred to use the 3" foambut it was so expensive)

Fabric - I used 2 yards

Batting

Staple Gun

Upholstery Buttons

Long Needle (I used a doll needle but you can also use an upholstery needle)

Thin jewelry wire (or very heavy-duty thread)

Pliers (optional)

Paint or Stain for Legs

Okay, so here goes for the tutorial.
The first thing I did was cover the buttons with fabric (you can see a
step-by-step how in yesterday's post).

Next I marked out on the foam where I wanted to place each button to make the tufting. I had to play around with it a bit to get the diamond patter exactly how I wanted.

Then I used my drill to cut holes. Make sure to have your drill already going before you start into the foam. This was by far my least favorite part of the project. The rest was pretty easy - this part was a pain! I am guessing there is an easier way. Once I had the holes cut Lillie and Lola had fun pulling any extra foam out of the holes and making each hole a little bit bigger.

Then we lined the foam up on top of the particle board and Lillie poked through each hole in the foam to make a mark with a sharpie onto the particle board.

Once she did that I used my drill and cut the coordinating holes out.

It was so much nicer cutting these out than it was cutting the foam!

Once that was done I started building the base. I used the same format as our dining room bench.

This was what it looked like when I was done.

Then I added the four legs. I forgot to take a photo of that when I was making the ottoman but I did it the same way as I did on the bench in the photo below: (The legs I wanted to buy were about $10 a leg. I found the legs I ended up using for a little over $3! I wasn't completely sure about them but the thought of spending $12 on legs vs. $40 won out and in the end I really really like how they turned out!)

Once the base was done I flipped it over and added the particle board on top. I screwed it down in each of the four corners.

Then I secured the top to the two middle braces underneath as well.

Then I added the foam.

Now here's when I went wrong. I decided to skip the batting and just start tufting....

Ugh! Without the batting it looks so flat and homemade looking! I wanted to cry as I cut each button loose after all that hard work tufting it.

Alright, lets try this again! I removed the buttons but left the fabric on and then added batting to the top.

I used a sharpie and marked where all the tufting needed to go and then used scissors to cut through the batting where each marking was.

Then I threaded the long doll needle with the jewelry wire and stared pulling each button through. I had to use pliers a couple of times to help pull the needle through. I started with the center of the ottoman and worked my way out.

When I pulled each button through I put a small screw on the underside next to each hole and then tightly wound the wire around it to help keep the buttons secure and hold the buttons really tight to make for a deep tufted look.

It can be a little hard pulling the needle through each time, but I
have to say this part is kind of fun as you see the tufting start to
come together.

Where each tuft is you kind of fold the fabric over like this and then pull it tight underneath the frame and use a staple gun to secure the fabric.

This is what it should look like at this point.

Then I just trimmed of the excess fabric.

And then I painted the legs gray.

And then rubbed some Annie Sloan dark wax over them! (I had planned on painting/waxing the legs before I even put them onto the ottoman but when you have two little helpers it's easy for things to not go according to the plan...it would be easier, though, to paint them before attaching them so you don't have to be so careful about not getting paint or wax on the fabic).

And that's it for our tutorial!

I also wanted to let you all know we stocked our briar hats in gray last night! They are selling fast and there are only a few left.

Love this! Wish I had your tutorial before I purchased our coffee table. Definitely will refer to it when I find some time to tackle another project. My favorite picture of the bunch is Lillie's little hands with the sharpie. Too cute!

Thank you so much for the detailed tutorial! Looks like Lillie and Lola had a lot of fun helping with this project--and your final product looks wonderful! You were so smart just to re-do it when it didn't turn out the way you wanted at first. Now you have a piece of furniture to be really proud of!

I wonder if you wrapped the batting all the way around the wood part to the underside if that would help with the sharp edges for little ones and give it a fuller look. Either way, I love it and get inspired to do something similar, possibly a headboard??? Thanks for sharing :)

It's gorgeous! You did a beautiful job Jen and of course your cute little helpers, too. You are a woman who can wear many hats! You do it all and always with elegance and class. Thanks for sharing your tutorial.

I cannot get over the genius and creativity I find on the net (like everyday!) when I come seeking inspiration. Not to mention the generosity of women such as yourself, in sharing these incredible creations. many blessings!

Jennifer, this ottoman is exactly what I've been looking for! And I KNEW there was a way to make it. I'm so grateful that you took the time to figure it all out and post it so beautifully. I was wondering how sturdy the ottoman is as seating. I know my kids (all adults) will sit on something like that and I would cry if it broke. It sounds like the length of the screws is a big factor in the sturdiness of the final piece. Also, if I make it bigger (say, 48" square), do you think additional braces will allow for it to be a functional piece of furniture for adult bums, or should I add stay blocks under each brace for stability? Thanks again for sharing your incredible talent and that of your helpers. They are blessed to have such a loving and amazing mom!

Yes, I would definitely say it is sturdy enough for seating. If you are nervous about it you could always add extra bracing but I don't think it would be necessary. Good luck with making it! Except for drilling through the foam it's a really fun project!

Very comprehensive tutorial. So glad you didn't leave out the correction of adding more padding for looks and comfort. You did such a good job,with or in spite of your junior helpers...what cuties they are.

Your ottoman looks great! Thanks for the tutorial!! I have been putting off redoing an ottoman I had my husband build a hundred years ago but am now forced {seriously} to because our puppy decided to pull the batting out from underneath and in the process tore off the fabric. I decided when I would redo it, I wanted it to be tufted and wasn't sure how to go about it. Again, thanks for the tutorial!!

Would you recommend a slipcover style top (still stapled underneath but seams on corners & top edges)? I'd like a cleaner edge but wonder if tufting would pull those edge seams off the edges making the Ottoman sloppy.

Confused! You said you left the fabric on when you added the batting, but when did the fabric get to be on top of the batting? Also, why did you cut holes in the foam instead of just pulling the thread through it?

Karen - I added another piece of fabric over the top. And if I had not cut holes in the foam it would not have allowed the tufting to be as deep and I think the deeper the tufting the more high end it looks.